Pumpkin Juice
by Forever Jasmine
Summary: Harry finds Hermione's journal, Ron sees Luna's sketch, and Neville learns Ginny's secret. So how does pumpkin juice fit into this situation?
1. Hermione's Journal

_Dear Diary,_

_Today's class in Muggle Studies was actually very interesting today._

_Most of the things I knew, of course, but I still took notes. Maybe a little TOO much..._

_But I surprised myself, and found out something I didn't even know._

_I was in love with Harry Potter. My BEST FRIEND._

_It's weird because I've never felt this way before...about ANYONE really. How can I love him..._

_More than a brother?_

_It's been six years. Nothing's changed at all. He's still the same Harry and I'm still the same Hermione._

_But I don't feel the same._

_I ended up staring at the back of his head, all class period, thinking about where we were in our friendship._

_I realized how much I liked his hair, his eyes, his lips when they curved into a smile. I also came to a conclusion about his voice too._

_Good Merlin. If I tell him, it'll ruin our friendship. If I DON'T tell him, he'll end up with someone else. What am I gonna do...?_

_H._

Harry was almost literally frozen to the spot as he read it. He had been on his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room when he saw a journal on the florr near the Portrait Hole. And as soon as he picked it up, to see who it belonged to, he saw his name and began to read. He swore that he had been reading the passage for the tenth time. His mind soon became a sudden blur as he read through it once more. This couldn't be Hermione's. But he knew her handwriting. It was her's alright. He just couldn't believe it...

"Password?" Said the Portrait Lady.

"Fortuna Maidra." He muttered, barely moving his lips or tearing his eyes off the page.

She swung open to let him enter. Harry walked through the Portrait Hole, slowly with a small smile growing on his lips. He heard the turning of a page and looked up as he entered the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione herself was on the couch near the fire, her nose buried in a thick-set book. Her brown eyes looked up and met his when she heard footsteps.

"Hello, Harry." She said. "You've just come back from Quidditch practice?"

"Hi, Hermione." He replied, clearing his dry throat, his palms were sweaty. "Yeah, I did."

"Hmm..." Her eyes fell back to her book. "Where's Ron and Ginny?"

"Ginny's on her way because she's with Dean. Ron got caught in the corridor by Lavendar." He shuddered.

"Oh, I see..."

Harry hesitated, seeing that she was already occupied. "Er, Hermione?"

"Yes?" She looked up again.

"I didn't mean to interrupt you or anything but..." He held out her journal slowly. "I-Is this...yours?"

Hermione's eyes went wide; she blushed in embarrassment, feeling self-conscious. "My journal..." Her voice was quiet. "Yes, that's mine." She got up and walked over to him to get it. "Where'd you...find it?"

He handed it over to her without looking her in the eye. "Outside of the Portrait Hole."

"O-oh..." She breathed, not meeting his eyes either. "Did you...open it?"

"Mhmm..."

"And...uh...did you..._read _it?"

Harry ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "A little..."

She blushed deeper. "Oh...um..."

"Er..."

"Th-thank you for, um, finding it for me..." She muttered, so low she didn't know he could hear.

"No problem..."

Hermione began backing away at a slow pace. "I'll...see you...tomorrow then...?"

"Y-yeah..." Harry nodded. "Tomorrow."

"Goodnight."

He got the urge to look at her. "Goodnight, Hermione."

She nodded before turning around and, shakily, heading up to the Girls' Domitories.


	2. The Truth

Harry stood there in thought.

_She knows I know now_. He thought. _But there's one thing that she doesn't know for once._

* * *

Hermione sat on her bed, holding her knees, rocking back and forth nervously.

_He knows, he knows! NO! Now I've done it, now I've done it... _She scowled at herself. She should keep thoughts to herself. Yep, that's it, just keep things to herself. She took the journal and threw it into the nearby fireplace with a sudden anger and it burned with a soft _crack _of some sort. Tears blurred her eyesight as she looked out the window; her cheeks looked flushed in her reflection. Hermione didn't like what she saw. She then resumed her postion on her bed and continued rocking.

"Hermione?" Came Harry's soft and nervous voice after a few knocks filled the room. "Can we talk for a minute?"

She had a sharp intake of breath. "Er-um...ah...yes, Harry, come in."

Her door opened. She saw Harry standing there and whiped her face.

"You know you're not supposed to be in here." She noted quietly.

"I know." He laughed uneasily. "But...I was wondering...about what you wrote...-"

"What about it? I didn't mean to write- I mean- What I meant was-" She stuttered, trying to think of a quick lie. "I mean-I didn't really write it-it-it was my friends-you know, my friend, Hariet's-" _Since when did I have a friend name Hariet?... _"I-I just kept it for her-so-so it-it wouldn't-"

Harry was shaking his head. He wasn't buying it. He walked over and sat down across from her as she spoke.

"Hermione-Hermione!" He took her by the shoulders and shook her once.

They shared a long glance before Hermione began sobbing quietly, her head drooping.

"I-I'm so sorry, H-Harry." She sobbed in a whisper, her head falling in his lap. He patted her back, sort of awkwardly as he thought again.

"Hermione..." He said softly. "You're my best friend...I'll understand anything you tell me. You know that."

"Y-You don't..." She breathed as she gripped the front of his Hogwarts robes for support. "Y-you w-won't this time. I-I'll mess u-up e-e-everything..."

"Mess up? Mess up what?"

"Our _friendship_, Harry!" She looked at him in the eyes. "I _told_ you, you _won't_ understand...if I told you...the truth."

She bit her lip as she took in his expression. His eyes were wary, however his lips were somehow curved in a strange, soft smile. One of those she hadn't seen before...

"How can something mess up our friendship?" He wondered.

She touched his chin with her fingertips. Then, without even thinking about it, she leaned a little bit, inhaling...

Hermione didn't expect Harry's reaction when their lips met. He kissed her back carefully as he wound one of his arms around her, then the other. She crushed herself closer to him eagerly, her hands cupped his face now. After a few moments of synchronized kissing and ragged breathing, she pulled her lips up, breaking the kiss.

She was halfway in his lap, her hands gripping his forearms in a gentle manner. His hands were a few inches below the area around her chest.

"Why'd you stop?" Harry muttered.

Hermione breathed a laugh. "I dunno...

"Can I ask you a question...?"

He nodded.

"Do you...by chance..." She spoke shyly now. "do you...maybe...feel the same...about me?"

Harry took her face in his hands.

"Hermione, I love you." He vowed. "That's something that's never going to change."

"Never...?" She rested her head on his shoulder. "Forever, then, seems to be a long time."


End file.
